Military Books

Bearport Publishing has produced several new series with military titles interspersed for you to consider purchasing for your students who are interested in the military. Intended for Hi-Lo readers with a reading level of about third grade and no more than 100 words on a page, these titles are less intimidating than most titles on these topics yet they are filled with enough facts to inspire our learners to keep reading.

Military Horses focuses upon horses used in wartime throughout history. I appreciated author Michael Sandler’s simple sentences in describing the important role of horses in many cultures (including the Huns in Asia). I learned that a riderless horse takes part in the funeral procession of a U. S. President. You can also read about Police Horses, Race Horses, Show Horses, Therapy Horses, and Working Horses in this Horse Power series. Military Dogs is part of the Dog Heroes series including Disaster Search Dogs, Fire Dogs, Guide Dogs, Medical Detective Dogs, Police Dogs, Security Dogs, Service Dogs, Sled Dogs, Snow Search Dogs, Therapy Dogs, Water Rescue Dogs and WIlderness Search Dogs. I learned that our dogs serving in Iraq wear goggles to protect their eyes during sandstorms. I was relieved to read this and assume that our soldiers are receiving equivalent protection <grin>. Isn’t it amazing how the stories of these dogs can bring tears, yet we shy away from reading the real-life stories of our soldiers? I witnessed this weekend people weeping over dogs, but gliding past exhibits of Holocaust atrocities.

Please, publishers, get out there and give us more hero books in the military area, also. I have a large collection of books of heroes for their peace-efforts and civil rights work, but I also need to provide a sense of military history to our young. My sons love peace and protecting the Constitution. We should be recognizing the contributions of our soldiers and telling their stories to the younger generation now. By limiting our offerings in elementary schools to Pearl Harbor and simplified Civil War tales, we are neglecting a great deal of our history. Give us more options!